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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“It’s almost all eaten up already. What a pity.”
“…Don’t you want to go back and catch the Kraken too?”
“Look for snacks to go with alcohol when we get back to land.”
“But this is the first time I’ve had such a delicious snack with alcohol. Would regular octopus taste this good?”
“Probably.”
It had been a week since our encounter with the Kraken.
We were smoothly progressing towards the mainland.
After escaping the foggy sea area, we hadn’t encountered any particular troubles, and only gentle waves accompanied us on our peaceful days.
We spent our time leisurely, having meals of Kraken octopus sashimi that had been soaked in alcohol left behind by the Wilsons we passed, to remove the smell.
“Johann. What do you plan to do when you get to the continent?”
“I don’t know yet.”
What I would do wasn’t up to me to decide. Sadly.
But it seems they do give rewards, so it’s somewhat comforting… Can I say that?
They wouldn’t just throw a single stat at me as a reward, right?
“If you really don’t know, come with us. We can find you a good position. With your skills, you can easily work at a decent place.”
“That’s right. You’re good at cooking, you can steer a ship, and also…”
It’s a bit embarrassing to say it seriously. But it does feel good to be recognized by others.
That’s what it means to be acknowledged.
I finished eating my portion of the meal and got up from my seat.
Since I was the only one who could handle the steering wheel, I didn’t have much time to rest.
And I couldn’t even entrust it to the others for a short while.
Karina lacked strength and couldn’t properly turn the steering wheel, Renny was good at turning it but would break it while turning vigorously, and it was worrisome to leave the steering wheel to Millia.
Although she could turn it quite well, she would often get distracted and end up moving to the wrong place.
In the end, it was most stable for me to handle the steering wheel.
Moreover, I was the only one who accurately perceived the direction.
I leaned against the steering wheel and opened the status window.
The stingy status window, which hadn’t changed since the day it became intact except for the distance in the mission section, remained unchanged today as well.
I feel like I’ve used skills a tremendous amount, but the ranks don’t even go up.
I want to have an SSS-grade skill too and live an easy life. But what’s with this A rank?
At least give me an S rank.
…Come to think of it, are the ranks attached to skills and characteristics fixed values?
Or do they increase based on my proficiency?
Since it was different from the system of Survival Academy that I remembered, I couldn’t gauge it.
I still don’t understand why they gave me this status window.
Couldn’t they have just given me the Survival Academy-style status window?
Did they completely overhaul the system when the True Ending DLC was patched?
The more I thought about it, the more dizzy I got.
Nothing seemed to be resolving properly, leaving me feeling frustrated.
Even though I’ve been possessed, why is my life so hardcore?
Why can’t I have an easy life?
I also want to have at least one cheating skill or item like the protagonists in web novels.
Crafting isn’t a bad skill, but compared to overwhelming mana capacity or hidden occupations, it lacks a bit of a kick.
“…Forget it. Something will work out once we set foot on land.”
What’s the point of complaining like this?
Let’s think positively.
Positively.
Still, becoming close with Karina was a big gain, so life on the deserted island had some meaning.
Since the start has become a bit easier, what’s more important is how to utilize this to reach the true ending.
It would be several times more constructive to recall useful items or in-game knowledge instead.
But what was there?
First, I remember there were about five or six heroines.
There was Karina, who was at the core of the main story.
Lana from the Magic Department, and… Who else was there?
One in the Alchemy Department, one in the Knight Department, one among the teachers, and… Who was it?
Anyway, that was roughly the extent of the heroines.
Other important characters were the principal and the vice principal… Oh, I think one of them was the mastermind, but which one was it?
No, before that, what happens to the protagonist?
I don’t think… I’m the protagonist.
If my memory is correct, the protagonist had a special mark engraved on their body.
That means the protagonist of Survival Academy exists.
Is it the default character that appears when no settings are made? But doesn’t that also involve choosing one from multiple presets?
And is it a male or female? I don’t even know the gender.
What was the default name?
My head was spinning.
I’d encountered an unexpected problem.
I was trying to immerse myself in thoughts leisurely, but it felt like I had a nightmare and woke up with a start.
“…Let whatever happens, happen.”
I’ll probably remember when I go and see for myself.
Just like how the memory came back to me as soon as I saw Karina, even after 10 years had passed.
The human memory has a way of reviving even very old memories when encountering something shocking.
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“Johann! Look over there! It’s land, land!”
While I was spacing out, leaning against the steering wheel, Karina’s bright and lively voice reached my ears.
Perhaps because she hadn’t set foot on land for a long time, Karina seemed the happiest I had seen in recent times.
Well, when there were roughly 100km left, everyone was visibly bored, so it was only natural.
What could be seen was only the blue water, and the seagulls, the most fucking annoying birds in the world, were the only sights to behold on the sea.
Damn it.
Poop fell on the deck again.
Who was on cleaning duty today?
Was it Millia?
As soon as I thought of Millia, she came out onto the deck with a large mop and cleaned the poop that had fallen on the deck.
No matter what, she did the assigned tasks diligently and well.
Although I think she might be enjoying it in her own way.
I touched my rough chin and slightly turned the steering wheel.
It seemed to be decreasing slowly, so while I was leaning against it, the direction had been slightly twisted.
“When we dock at the port, we should first go to a place to exchange money.”
We need to sell the belongings left to us by the Wilsons who unfortunately met their end at sea.
From expensive jeweled accessories to quite decent-looking antiques.
Since we had gathered everything that could be converted into cash, we would at least be able to cover the travel expenses to reach the academy.
Ah, should I keep some as they are?
I think I might be able to utilize them for my skills if I do some research.
“Captain! I can see the port over there!”
“I know, Millia.”
Could you please put away that abhorrent large mop?
You just wiped seagull poop with it.
“Captain! What are you going to do when you get to the port?”
“…First, we need to dock the ship, and then go exchange the jewels.”
In the end, the most important thing in society is money.
Without money, you can’t eat, you have no place to sleep, you can’t buy clothes, so exchanging money comes before anything else.
So, shall we furl the sails a bit?
The current speed is too fast, so if we go like this, we won’t be docking at the port but making a charge that puts suicide squads to shame.
“Millia, go tell Renny to furl the sails. We’ll be arriving at the port soon.”
“Got it!”
Millia ran towards Renny, who was hanging onto the railing in the distance, making noisy footsteps.
I narrowed my eyes and looked at the port with the sails furled, giving an even more open view.
The port, enveloped in bright sunlight, was as splendid as its size.
Wouldn’t it be about half the size of Busan?
No, honestly, I’ve never lived in Busan and have only been there once when I was young, so it might be a bit inappropriate to compare the size.
But since it’s the only port city I know, there was no suitable place to compare it to.
Anyway, I savored the feeling of my heart pounding for the first time in a long while as I watched the ships passing by our ship.
There were fishing boats carrying nets, luxurious-looking merchant ships, and even ships with cannons lined up on their sides like in the movies.
Seeing the people on board, I could truly feel that I had finally arrived at a place teeming with people.
As many people as there were rabbits.
Yes, this is a place where people live.
Not a desolate place like the deserted island where I was the only person.
“Johann! Snap out of it! Put on some clothes up there!”
“Alright.”
I obediently put on a top at Renny’s words.
Even I knew that I shouldn’t walk around without a top in civilized society.
I put on the shirt that Karina had chosen for me, which looked the most casual.
Ugh, the smell.
Since there was no way to do proper laundry on the ship, no matter how good the condition of the clothes was, they couldn’t help but smell.
I need to buy clothes first when I get some money.
Preferably something sturdy.
After buying clothes, let’s get a room at an inn and have a meal.
A meal with plenty of spices. And after that…
“Captain?”
“Ah, Millia.”
“Captain, something feels off.”
“First, fix your head properly before speaking.”
Millia’s head, which was about 30 degrees off, finally returned to its normal position.
“So, what’s strange?”
“Well, there are people with scary weapons gathering at the port.”
“What?”
I immediately ran to the bow of the ship and looked at the port.
Soldiers?
Why?
Are they looking at us?
…Ah.
“Stop! Unregistered ships are prohibited from entering the port according to Imperial law!”
A man dressed like “I am a high-ranking person” among the soldiers shouted at us.
Wariness flowed from his eyes visible through the helmet.
…It seems we’ve been misunderstood due to the ship’s appearance.
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can’t wait for them to realize saintess karina is on board tho inb4 they claim it’s an imposter or something
Harem’s Law states that in a possession novel if the OG protagonist can be either female or male, there is a 99.99% chance of them being female